Management of Ecosystems in a Changing Climate- forest and agricultural landscapes

The Swedish EPA seeks to fund a synthesis analysis in the area of management of ecosystems in a changing climate focused on forest and agricultural landscapes.
Deadline for applications is 15 August 2017.

The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s (Swedish EPA) ongoing efforts in protecting the biodiversity need to be adapted to effects of climate change. The effects from climate change on biodiversity and ecosystem services must be detected and processed as early as possible. In order to support decision-making for these climate adaptation measures, we advertise funds for a synthesis analysis focusing on forests and agricultural landscapes.

With this call the Swedish EPA and the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (SwAM) are seeking to fund a synthesis analysis that summarizes how the management of biodiversity and ecosystems should be adapted to prevent the negative impacts of climate change. The starting point should be to identify strengths and areas of development for a sustainable ecosystem management, where the biodiversity and functions of the ecosystems are maintained. The synthesis analysis should be delimited to forest and agricultural landscapes as well as transition zones between these environments. Different components of the ecosystems should be taken into account, both protected nature and used land as well as the links between these landscapes.

A synthesis analysis means a literature review and a summary analysis.

The Swedish EPA invites organizations, individual researchers or research groups to submit applications for the synthesis analysis in the order of up to SEK 1.5 million (including overhead costs) for a period of 18 months. Only one application will be funded. We encourage researchers from different disciplines to work together. The deadline for applications is the 15th of August 2017.

Challenges in environmental management

Climate change and its impact on natural environment have caused new challenges in environmental management [1]. Swedish EPA’s latest in-depth evaluation of the Environmental Quality Objectives [2] shows that long-term efforts are required in order to limit the impact of climate change. Meanwhile there is a need for further knowledge about how the management of ecosystems and natural resources can be designed to handle both current and future impacts of climate change. This is also an important conclusion of the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute SMHI's investigation "Foundation for control station 2015 for adaptation to a changing climate" (in Swedish) [3].

In the Swedish EPA’s government assignment ”Conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in a changing climate” [1] (in Swedish) it is described that the changes in temperature and rainfall will have both direct and indirect impacts on the ecosystems in Sweden, for example direct impact on biodiversity but even to a higher degree indirect impacts through a changed land and water use, as a result of efforts to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. These challenges require strategies for climate adaptation within the management of our ecosystems. This is a prerequisite for the effective implementation of various EU directives, to reach the Environmental Quality Objectives [4] and to create a sustainable management of cultivated ecosystems.

The Swedish EPA and SwAM expect to benefit from the results of synthesis analysis in the following areas:

Monitoring, evaluation and further development of the Environmental Quality Objectives, specifically: A rich diversity of plant and animal life, A magnificent mountain landscape, Sustainable forests and A varied agricultural landscape.

General prioritization grounds for the work with biodiversity (species and populations size, genetic variation and adaptability).

Strategies regarding the spread of invasive species and related actions.

Support the county administrative boards with regional action plans for green infrastructure.

National strategies, action plans and other policy documents for the protection of valuable nature.

Manuals and guides for various forms of protection, care and management of valuable nature.

Restoration of degraded ecosystems.

Action plans for endangered species.

Efforts to communicate the value of the ecosystem services.

Work with wildlife management.

Priorities

The synthesis should describe how the management of biodiversity and ecosystems needs to be developed and adapted to a changing climate to ensure the preservation of biodiversity and ecosystem functions. The synthesis shall be delimited to forests and agricultural landscapes and the transition zones between the two ecosystems. Examples of possible adaption measures that the synthesis could cover are changes in land and water use, changes in planning and management of valuable nature especially on a landscape level, adapted environmental monitoring, and enhanced dissemination of knowledge on climate adaptation.

The synthesis should provide an overview of existing studies on how the management can be adapted based on the appropriate level and goals, taking into account how the different parts of Sweden will be affected by climate change. The synthesis should also analyze the links between previous studies and identify knowledge gaps in the data.

Studies from other geographical areas that are relevant for Sweden may also be included. Gray literature can be included where relevant. It should be clear which impacts of climate change on biodiversity and ecosystem functions that the climate adaptation strategies are targeting. Proposals for new management models and approaches are encouraged. The synthesis should provide an overview of the whole problem area, and therefore lower priority will be given to applications that deal only with certain aspects of this call.

Who can apply?

The main applicant must hold a PhD and conduct research at universities, colleges, research institutes, or government agencies carrying out research as part of its mandate. “Research institute” refers to organizations that have research as their sole or principal part of their mandate. The main applicant should be affiliated with a Swedish organization with a Swedish corporate identity number (“organisationsnummer”).